Building a New System for a Higher-Standard Open Economy through Institutional Opening Up

Since reform and opening up, China has actively promoted trade and investment liberalization, voluntarily integrated into the global value chain division of labor, and facilitated the integration of its domestic economy into the global economic cycle through international competition and cooperation. Traditional trade and investment liberalization mainly targeted the cross-border flow of goods and factors. With the progressive reduction of global tariffs, the issue of "border opening" has been essentially resolved. Entering a new phase of high-standard opening up, the focus of opening up has shifted to "domestic opening," emphasizing alignment with internationally prevailing rules in areas such as property rights protection, government procurement, and industrial subsidies. The 2018 Central Economic Work Conference[1]1 The Central Economic Work Conference is an annual high-level meeting of the Communist Party of China that sets economic policy priorities for the upcoming year. first proposed "shifting from opening up based on the flow of goods and factors to institutional opening up based on rules, etc." Compared with opening up based on the flow of goods and factors, institutional opening up emphasizes proactively aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules and promoting the compatibility of rules, regulations, management, and standards.

改革开放以来，我国积极推进贸易投资自由化，主动融入全球价值链分工体系，在国际竞争与合作中促进本国经济融入世界经济大循环。传统的贸易投资自由化主要针对商品和要素的跨境流动，随着全球关税的逐步削减，“边境开放”问题已经基本得到解决。迈入高水平对外开放新阶段后，开放的重心转向“境内开放”，强调在产权保护、政府采购、产业补贴等领域与国际通行规则相衔接。2018年中央经济工作会议首次提出，“推动由商品和要素流动型开放向规则等制度型开放转变”。相较于商品和要素流动型开放，制度型开放强调主动对接国际高标准经贸规则，推动规则、规制、管理、标准的相通相容。

Main Content of Institutional Opening Up

制度型开放的主要内容

Opening up of rules. Rules refer to prevailing international economic and trade rules, including WTO rules and regional trade agreement rules. WTO rules cover topics such as manufacturing tariffs, government procurement, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, and trade facilitation, while regional trade agreement rules also include competition policy, data protection, innovation policy, regulatory cooperation, and labor market regulations. Opening up of rules includes both complying with existing international economic and trade rules and participating in global governance and jointly constructing new international economic and trade rules. Opening up of rules is the foundation of institutional opening up, providing basic norms of conduct for institutional opening up.

规则开放。规则意指通行的国际经贸规则，包括世界贸易组织规则和区域贸易协定规则，其中世界贸易组织规则涉及的议题涵盖制造业关税、政府采购、反倾销反补贴、贸易便利化等，区域贸易协定规则涉及的议题中还包括竞争政策、数据保护、创新政策、监管合作、劳动力市场规制等内容。规则开放既包括遵守现有国际经贸规则，也包括参与全球治理、共建国际经贸新规则。规则开放是制度型开放的基础，为制度型开放提供基本行为准则。

Opening up of regulations. Regulations refer to the norms and controls implemented by the government for specific industries and fields, involving the government's constraints on foreign-related economic activities. Opening up of regulations focuses on clarifying the boundaries of government, reducing unnecessary government intervention, and ultimately aims at the coordination and harmonization of regulatory rules across countries, reducing compliance costs, and improving the efficiency of international economic activities. In recent years, China has abolished foreign ownership caps in the financial industry; in the manufacturing sector, it has removed from the negative list[2]2 The negative list is a management model for foreign investment access; it specifies industries and sectors where foreign investment is restricted or prohibited, with all other areas presumed open. restrictions such as "publication printing must be controlled by Chinese parties" and "prohibition of investment in the application of processing techniques such as steaming, frying, roasting, and calcining of traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces and the production of secret prescription products of Chinese patent medicine," achieving a "zeroing out" of foreign investment access restrictions in manufacturing. These are vivid manifestations of opening up of regulations.

规制开放。规制是指政府针对特定行业和领域实施的规范和控制，涉及政府对涉外经济活动的约束。规制开放着力于明晰政府边界，减少不必要的政府干预，其最终指向是各国监管规则的协调和一致，降低合规成本，提升国际经济活动效率。近年来，中国在金融业领域取消外资持股比例限制，在制造业领域负面清单中删除了针对“出版物印刷须由中方控股”以及“禁止投资中药饮片的蒸、炒、炙、煅等炮制技术的应用及中成药保密处方产品的生产”的限制措施，实现了制造业领域外资准入限制措施“清零”，这些都是规制开放的鲜明体现。

Opening up of management. Opening up of management mainly targets government management models, with its core being the streamlining of administration and delegation of power, optimization of government services, and enhancement of administrative efficiency. For example, strengthening the construction of a "single window" for international trade, innovating comprehensive customs supervision models, and implementing commercial system reforms such as "separation of permits and business licenses"[3]3 "Separation of permits and business licenses" (zhengzhao fenli) is a Chinese commercial system reform that decouples administrative permits from business licenses, streamlining market entry. are all manifestations of the government optimizing its management model and creating a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized first-class business environment. They are important components of opening up of management.

管理开放。管理开放主要针对政府管理模式，其核心是简政放权，优化政务服务，提升行政效能。比如，加强国际贸易“单一窗口”建设、创新海关综合监管模式、实施“证照分离”等商事制度改革，都是政府优化管理模式，营造市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境的体现，是管理开放的重要内容。

Opening up of standards. Standards are rules and guidelines provided for commodity production, including environmental standards, labor standards, and digital standards. Standards can regulate corporate behavior, ensure that enterprises conduct production and operation activities according to qualified procedures, and provide the possibility for improving product quality and service levels. Currently, prevailing international standards are mainly formulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and others. Under international standards, countries or regions also have their own standards, such as EU standards (CE), China's national standards (GB), and Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). Opening up of standards provides a more specific yardstick for management, helps reduce compliance costs, and improves adaptability within the international trade system.

标准开放。标准是就商品生产而提供的规则、指南，包括环境标准、劳工标准、数字领域标准等。标准可以规范企业行为，确保企业按照合格流程开展生产经营活动，为提高产品质量以及服务水平提供了可能。目前国际通行的标准主要由国际标准化组织（ISO）等制定；在国际标准下，各国或区域也有自己的标准，如欧盟标准（CE）、中国国家标准（GB）、日本工业标准（JIS）等。标准开放为管理提供了更具体的衡量尺度，有助于降低合规成本，提升在国际贸易体系中的适配性。

Challenges and Countermeasures for China's Promotion of Institutional Opening Up

我国推进制度型开放的挑战与应对之策

Institutional opening up is not only a practical need for China to closely follow the latest practices of high-standard opening up and grasp the latest characteristics of opening up, but also an inevitable choice for adapting to new trends in the international economy and responding to international challenges. Currently, competition in the field of international economic and trade rules is intensifying, with Western developed countries dominating the restructuring of these rules. Since the 21st century, the influence of developing countries and emerging economies on the global economy has risen year by year, and the roles of platforms such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the BRICS group have been continuously enhanced, injecting a "development component" into the restructuring of international economic and trade rules. At the same time, developed countries are stepping up their control and contention for dominance over international economic and trade rules, promoting the formation of a new generation of international trade rules that favor the maintenance of their interests. Against this backdrop, advancing institutional opening up and building a higher-standard open economy require efforts from multiple dimensions.

制度型开放既是我国紧扣高水平对外开放最新实践，把握开放最新特点的现实需要，也是顺应国际经济发展新趋势，应对国际挑战的必然选择。当前，国际经贸规则领域的角逐愈演愈烈，西方发达国家主导着国际经贸规则的重构。21世纪以来，发展中国家和新兴经济体对世界经济的影响力逐年上升，亚太经合组织、金砖国家等平台作用不断增强，为国际经贸规则的重构注入了“发展成分”。但与此同时，发达国家正加紧控制和争夺国际经贸规则主导权，推动形成有利于维护其利益的新一代国际贸易规则。在此背景下，推进制度型开放，建设更高水平开放型经济，需要从多维度着力。

Absorb extensive beneficial experience and establish institutional mechanisms that align with internationally prevailing rules. For example, in line with the "cumulative rules of origin" of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)[4]4 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement among 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the ten ASEAN member states., introduce convenience-oriented systems such as "statements of origin" and "back-to-back certificates of origin"; advance commercial system reforms; establish an administrative management system compatible with high-standard international economic and trade rules; shift government management from focusing on pre-approval to focusing on in-process and post-event supervision. Benchmark against the high-standard economic and trade rule requirements of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA)[5]5 The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) is a multilateral agreement among Singapore, New Zealand, and Chile that sets rules for digital trade and the digital economy.; continuously relax market access in the digital field; promote and regulate cross-border data flows; advance institutional opening up in the digital trade field. Proactively align with globally prevailing rules, absorb broad consensus from international antitrust law, and promote industrial policies transitioning from selective to functional, from preferential to competitive, forming a unified, open, and competitive market environment with orderly competition.

广泛吸收有益经验，建立同国际通行规则衔接的制度机制。例如，对照《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》（RCEP）“累积原产地规则”，推出“原产地声明”“背对背原产地证明”等便利导向的制度，推进商事制度改革，建立与国际高标准经贸规则相适应的行政管理体系，推动政府管理由注重事前审批转为注重事中事后监管；对标《数字经济伙伴关系协定》（DEPA）高标准经贸规则要求，不断放宽数字领域市场准入，促进和规范数据跨境流动，推动数字贸易领域的制度型开放。主动与全球通行规则相对接，吸收国际反垄断法的广泛共识，推动产业政策从选择性转向功能性、从倾斜性转向竞争性，形成统一开放、竞争有序的市场环境。

For new areas where unified international rules have not yet been formed, conduct pilot trials, put forward Chinese solutions, and gain a say in the formulation of international rules. Institutional opening up includes both comprehensively aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, i.e., "institutional learning," and actively participating in global governance by providing institutional solutions to the international community, i.e., "institutional innovation." One may consider leveraging the Belt and Road Initiative to create an open and inclusive platform for common development. Focusing on important topics in digital trade rules and green trade rules, select areas of rule-making where China has comparative advantages, contribute Chinese wisdom, and expand China's influence in international economic and trade rules.

对于尚未形成统一国际规则的新领域，开展先行先试，推出中国方案，掌握国际规则制定中的话语权。制度型开放既包括全面对接高标准国际经贸规则，即“制度学习”，也包括主动参与全球治理，向国际上提供制度方案，即“制度创新”。可以考虑依托“一带一路”倡议，打造开放包容的共同发展平台，针对数字贸易规则和绿色贸易规则中的重要议题，选择比较优势明显的规则领域，贡献中国智慧，扩大中国在国际经贸规则方面的影响力。

Strengthen the institutional integrated innovation construction of pilot free trade zones[6]6 Pilot free trade zones (FTZs) are designated areas in China where experimental economic and administrative reforms are tested before being rolled out nationally., conduct pilot trials of economic and trade rules, and explore practical pathways for deepening institutional opening up. High-standard trade rules are "deep rules" based on existing WTO rules, characterized by wide coverage and high complexity. Use the "pilot first" approach of pilot free trade zones to conduct stress tests for aligning with high-standard trade rules, determine priorities, focus on trade regulation, financial opening, and administrative management system reform, cultivate an international, market-oriented, and law-based business environment, advance institutional reform and regulatory innovation, and form a number of leading institutional innovation achievements, exploring new pathways and accumulating new experience for building a new system for a higher-standard open economy.

加强自由贸易试验区制度集成创新建设，开展经贸规则试点，为深入推进制度型开放探索实践路径。高标准贸易规则是在现有世界贸易组织规则基础上的“深层规则”，具有涉及面广、复杂程度高等特点，应利用自由贸易试验区的“先行先试”做好对标高标准贸易规则的压力测试，确定好优先序，聚焦贸易监管、金融开放、行政管理体制改革，培育国际化、市场化、法治化营商环境，推进制度改革与监管创新，形成一批引领性制度创新成果，为建设更高水平开放型经济新体制探索新途径、积累新经验。

Coordinate and advance institutional opening up with deep-seated reform to achieve positive interaction between the two. On the one hand, institutional opening up provides content and momentum for deep-seated reform: institutional opening up focuses on "behind-the-border" rules, and its content is itself an inherent requirement of deep-seated reform, representing an extension and expansion from "border opening" to "domestic opening." On the other hand, deep-seated reform provides institutional guarantees for institutional opening up: by carrying out systematic and focused deep-seated reform, build an open economic system that conforms to high-standard international economic and trade rules, paving the way for institutional opening up.

统筹推进制度型开放与深层次改革，实现两者良性互动。一方面，以制度型开放为深层次改革提供内容和动力，制度型开放侧重“边境后”规则，其内容本身就是深层次改革的内在要求，是“边境开放”向“境内开放”的拓展和延伸；另一方面，以深层次改革为制度型开放提供制度保障，通过开展系统集成、重点突出的深层次改革，建设顺应高标准国际经贸规则的开放型经济体制，为制度型开放铺路。

(Author: YANG Jijun, Dean of the School of Finance and Taxation, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics)

（作者：杨继军，系南京财经大学财政与税务学院院长）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧